Fact Check: Muhammad Yunus’ daughter arrested for drunken driving? No, viral photo isn’t of Monica Yunus.
A video circulating online claims to show Monica Yunus getting arrested for drunken driving.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 29 Nov 2024 9:31 AM GMT
Claim: The video shows Monica Yunus, daughter of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, getting arrested for drunken driving.
Fact: The claim is false. The woman in the video is not Monica Yunus.
Hyderabad: Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Laureate and chief adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, has often been in the spotlight, not just for his achievements but also for his contentious relationship with the US president-elect Donald Trump.
The friction between the two dates to 2016 when Yunus made a significant donation to Hillary Clinton’s foundation, an act that reportedly upset Trump. With Trump set to return to the White House after defeating Kamala Harris, political analysts predict that Yunus may face further challenges given his past remarks and actions.
Amid these ongoing developments, a set of photographs and a video have gone viral on social media, claiming to show Monica Yunus, the American-Bangladeshi music performer and daughter of Muhammad Yunus, being arrested for drunken driving.
A user on Threads shared the images and the video with the caption, “He failed to raise his own kids n people think he is guiding muslim youth???? Trump-hater Muhammad Yunus supports gay rights. His daughter #MonicaYunus is a lesbian. She was arrested by cops in drunken state. Now can we ask those Islamists in Bangladesh to see the real identity of their ‘leader’? (sic)”
The text on the images claimed that Monica Yunus is a lesbian and was arrested for driving under the influence. The video, captioned with inflammatory remarks about Muhammad Yunus and his family, shows a woman reportedly identifying herself as ‘Monica Younus’ during a police interaction.
Similar claims can be seen here and here.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The woman in the video is not Monica Yunus.
Monica Yunus is an internationally renowned soprano, celebrated for her artistry and contributions to arts and culture.
A keyword search led us to Monica Yunus’ official profiles, including her website and Facebook account, confirming her professional identity as an opera singer and social entrepreneur.
We found an article published in The New York Times titled ‘Monica Yunus, Brandon McReynolds’ dated July 13, 2009. According to the article, Monica Yunus has been married to Brandon McReynolds since 2009.
We couldn’t find any reports of Monica Yunus being arrested or being known to have been seen driving under the influence of alcohol.
Here is a comparison of images.
A reverse image search of the viral video led to a 1:14-hour-long YouTube video titled, ‘Drunk Woman Crashes her Car After a Breakup in Verona, New Jersey’. The thumbnail is the same as the images in the claim. The viral portion can be seen at the begin of the video, starting at 0:45 seconds.
The video under investigation is the bodycam footage taken from this video.
According to the video caption, the incident took place on April 16, 2022, when a woman named Monica was involved in a car accident in Verona, New Jersey. The video shows the driver admitting to consuming alcohol after breaking up with her girlfriend.
While the woman in the video shares the name “Monica,” her identity is entirely unrelated to Monica Yunus.
Monica Yunus's most recent Instagram post, dated October 24, 2024, was about the celebration of "Sing for Hope." This is non-profit organization, co-founded by her and Camille Zamora, both opera singers, focuses on spreading hope through music.
Hence, the viral claim that a set of photos and a video shows Monica Yunus, daughter of Muhammad Yunus, getting arrested for drunken driving is false. The woman in the video is not Monica Yunus, as verified through image comparisons, official profiles and reports.
